Ontario announces three-step plan to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions
Ontario announced it will allow indoor dining and gyms to reopen and will increase gathering limits on Jan. 31 as part of a three-step plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions in the province.
"We can be confident that the worst is behind us as we look to cautiously ease public health measures," Premier Doug Ford said Thursday. "We are now in a position to cautiously and gradually ease public health measures."
Starting Jan. 31, social gathering limits will increase to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors, the province said.
Indoor dining, gyms, retailers, shopping malls, and cinemas can reopen at 50 per cent capacity.
Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments can also reopen.
The government will also allow spectators at sporting events, concert venues and theatres at 50 per cent seated capacity or 500 people, whichever is less.
Each step of reopening will be separated by 21 days in order for the province to monitor public health trends.
"We want to do everything humanly possible to avoid having to go backwards," Ford said. "If that means pausing between steps for a few extra days, we won't hesitate to do so."
On Feb. 21, Ontario will increase indoor social gathering limits to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoor.
At this time, the province will also remove capacity limits in indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required, including restaurants, indoor sports and recreational facilities, and cinemas.
Indoor capacity limits of 25 per cent will be put in place for higher-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required, including nightclubs, wedding receptions in event spaces where there is dancing, as well as bathhouses and sex clubs.
Other settings that choose to opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements will also be allowed to lift capacity limits.
Spectator capacity at sporting events, concert venues, and theatres will be 50 per cent capacity on Feb. 21.
Indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is not required will be limited to the number of people that can maintain two metres of physical distance.
On March 14, Ontario will lift all capacity limits in indoor public settings, but proof of vaccination will still be in effect.
Social gathering limits will increase to 50 people indoors at the time, with no limits for outdoor gatherings. Remaining capacity limits on religious services, rites, or ceremonies will also be lifted at this time.
A date for lifting Ontario's proof of vaccination system and mask mandate was not announced.
"There are some positive signs that we may be reaching the peak of the Omicron wave in Ontario," Health Minister Christine Elliott said. "However, we still need to remain humble and cautious."
Ford said the province is not currently considering updating its proof of vaccination requirement from two doses to three.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said the decision to start reopening the economy was made because there are positive indicators that COVID-19 transmission is starting to ease.
"The percentage of tests that are positive is on the decline at 15 per cent, so that is one indicator we're following very closely, as well the ability to care for Ontarians in the intensive care unit setting as well as in the hospital," he said.
Moore did not give a date for when non-urgent surgeries, which was paused earlier this month, will be allowed to resume.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.